When university endowment funds, charities and other investors consider putting money into a venture capital firm, they typically investigate the firm’s financial performance and how it competes with other firms for good investments. Some make as many as 30 or 40 calls, following up on references provided by the firms.

One question that typically isn’t asked is about the personal behavior of a firm’s partners—such as whether anyone has been the subject of sexual harassment complaints from entrepreneurs. But in the wake of the uproar surrounding half a dozen women’s complaints about Binary Capital co-founder Justin Caldbeck, there are signs investors want that to change.